In the construction of buildings, systems have been developed for prefabricating building panels and shipping them to the building site where they are assembled by construction workers. However, these types of systems have not been entirely satisfactory and have failed to a large extent to displace traditional "stick built" construction techniques. One problem is that assembling the prefabricated panels and connecting them together requires cranes and other heavy equipment, as well as costly on-site labor. The materials of which prefabricated panels are constructed have been less than satisfactory in many respects, including their relatively high cost, heavy weight, lack of effective thermal insulation, structural deficiencies, and lack of resistance to fire, weather and insects. The panels that have been proposed in the past have also been difficult to finish other than by employing conventional techniques and materials.